The Okapi, or forest giraffe, and the sub-Saharan white-winged flufftail – one of Africa’s rarest birds – are now on the brink of extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The two animals are the latest additions to its Red List of Threatened Species, which now runs to a shocking 21,286 species. However, there is good news. Two species of albatross, the leatherback turtle and the island fox native to California’s Channel Islands are showing signs of recovery.
The update highlights serious declines in the population of the okapi (okapia johnstoni), a close relative of the giraffe, unique to the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The species is now Endangered, only one step away from the highest risk of extinction, with numbers dwindling across its range. Poaching and habitat loss, as well as the presence of rebels, elephant poachers and illegal miners, are the principal threats to its survival.
世界自然保育聯盟（IUCN）日前公布瀕危物種紅色名單的最新版本，其中「森林長頸鹿」霍加狓（Okapi）和非洲最稀有鳥類之一的白翅侏秧雞（white-winged flufftail）都瀕臨滅絕的危機。IUCN仔細清查了71,576種物種的保育狀況，名單上的物種有些數量回升，有些則進一步減少，可謂喜憂參半。IUCN估計至少有21,286種物種有滅絕危機，比例高達30%；其中剛果共和國的象徵─「森林長頸鹿」霍加狓（Okapia johnstoni），長頸鹿的近親，因叛亂、人為偷獵及棲息地遭破壞，造就其保護級別往上連跳兩級，從近危變成瀕危。
- On the brink of 瀕於；在‥之邊緣
The stock market was on the brink of collapse.
股市已到崩盤的邊緣。
- Unique (adj.) 獨一無二的；獨特的
The custom is unique to the region.
這種風俗是這一地區特有的。
- Endangered (adj.) 快要絕種的
- Dwindle (v.) 漸漸減少；變小
Hopes for their safety dwindled.
他們會平安無事的希望變得渺茫了。
- Poach (v.) 偷獵；偷捕
They can't poach herring from our waters.
他們不能從我們水域偷捕鯡魚。
- Habitat (n.) 棲息地；(植物)產地
The polar bear's habitat is the icy wastes of the Arctic.
北極熊的棲息地是冰冷的北極荒原。
According to the update, almost 200 species of bird are now classed as critically endangered, facing the highest risk of extinction. The white-winged flufftail (sarothrura ayresi), a small, secretive bird which occurs in Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, is the latest species to join this category.
Destruction and degradation of its habitat, including wetland drainage, conversion for agriculture, water abstraction, overgrazing by livestock and cutting of marsh vegetation, have driven it to this precarious state. Urgent action is now needed to better understand the species’ ecology and to address these threats, the IUCN said.
根據最新資料，有近200種鳥類被列為瀕危名單，其中白翅侏秧雞（sarothrura ayresi）面臨滅絕的危險性最高。IUCN表示，因為棲息的濕地近年來大受破壞及被過度開墾，導致白翅侏秧雞的數量正大幅減少。
- Critically (adv.) 危急地；嚴重地
10 people died and 30 were critically injured in a rail crash yesterday.
在昨天的火車相撞事故中有10人死亡30人重傷。
- Drainage (n.) 排水(系統)
The drainage of the town is not good, some of the pipes are broken.
城裡的排水系統不好，有些水管斷裂了。
- Overgraze (v.) 因無限制放牧而導致破壞
- Livestock (n.) 家畜(總稱)
- Marsh (n.) 沼澤；濕地
They made their way slowly out of the marsh.
他們慢慢地走出了沼澤地。
- Vegetation (n.) 植被(總稱)
Forests and jungles have thick vegetation.
森林和熱帶雨林中有茂密的植被。
- Precarious (adj.) 不穩的；危險的
Our financial situation is still precarious.
我們的財政狀況仍不穩定。
Although the global population of the leatherback turtle (dermochelys coriacea) - the largest of all living turtles – has improved, the species continues to face serious threats at a subpopulation level.
Leatherbacks are a single species, globally comprising seven biologically and geographically distinct subpopulations. The Northwest Atlantic Ocean Leatherback subpopulation is abundant and increasing thanks to successful conservation initiatives in the region.
In contrast, the East Pacific Ocean subpopulation, which nests along the Pacific coast of the Americas, and the West Pacific Ocean subpopulation, found in Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, are both in severe decline due to extensive egg harvest and incidental capture in fishing gear. Targeted conservation efforts are needed to prevent their collapse.
The IUCN Red List update also brings good news for some of the species assessed. Two species of albatross - one of the most threatened of the planet’s bird families – are now at a lower risk of extinction due to increases in their populations.
The black-browed albatross (thalassarche melanophrys) has moved from endangered to near-threatened and the black-footed albatross (phoebastria nigripes) has moved from vulnerable to near-threatened. By-catch in fisheries is the main threat to these species.
在美洲、印尼及巴布亞新幾內亞等地生活的棱皮龜(dermochelys coriacea)，是體型最大的海龜，由7個種群所構成，分佈在世界各地。雖然棱皮龜的整體數量略有增加，由極危變為易危，但生活在太平洋東部和西部海域的一些種群數量仍不斷減少，主要原因在於採蛋行為及意外將其捕獲的捕魚方式。
另外，還有兩種信天翁，因被漁民追捕，曾經成為鳥類中最瀕危的品種之一。但令人感到欣喜的是，今年資料顯示其數量有回升的跡象。黑腳信天翁(phoebastria nigripes) 已經從易危物種升級為近危物種，而黑眉信天翁（thalassarche melanophrys）則從瀕危物種升級為近危物種。
- Initiative (n.) 計畫；措施
- Extensive (adj.) 大規模的；大量的
The storm caused extensive damage.
風暴造成了巨大的損害。
- Incidental (adj.) 偶然發生的
- Gear (n.) 工具；設備
That store sells sports gear.
那家商店賣體育器具。
- Vulnerable (adj.) 易受傷的；脆弱的
The island fox (urocyon littoralis), previously critically endangered, has also improved in status and is now listed as near-threatened. Found on six of the California Channel Islands off the coast of southern California, four island fox subspecies suffered catastrophic declines in the mid 1990s mainly due to disease and predation by non-native species, such as the golden eagle.
All four subspecies have now recovered or are approaching recovery. This is mainly due to successful conservation work of IUCN Member the U.S. National Park Service, which included captive breeding, reintroduction, vaccination against canine diseases and relocation of golden eagles.
島嶼灰狐(urocyon littoralis)，生活在美國加利福尼亞州南部沿海的6個海峽島，曾經被列為極度瀕危物種，現在「升級」為近危物種。1990年代，島嶼灰狐的數量因為疾病和金雕等外來物種入侵急劇減少。隨著保護工作的實施，包括人工繁殖、接種疫苗等，島嶼灰狐的所有4個亞種的數量都處在恢復當中。
- Catastrophic (adj.) 災難的；悲慘的
- Predation (n.) 掠奪；掠食
- Captive breeding (n.) 人工繁殖
- Vaccination (n.) 疫苗接種 +against
vaccination against smallpox 牛痘疫苗的接種
- Canine (adj.) 狗的；犬的
The fox is a canine animal. 狐狸是犬科動物。
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2515641/From-forest-giraffe-flufftail-Shocking-report-reveals-21-286-animal-species-threat-extinction.html#ixzz2sPsdGmRo
